Jolt
by Xyrer
Summary: Chapter 8 now up! It's time for the first trial, but will Jolt be able to defeat Edge's Chosen?
1. Joining a gang

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Chapter 1

I dashed as fast as possible, the netrium batteries in my skates kicking up blue sparks as they were pushed into overdrive. I had to do this. I had to. The yellow can in my hand was cool, I could feel it through my leather gloves. If I wanted to join, I had to tag a billboard high up, something I could only do if I ground and wall-rode quickly and consecutively. I was nervous. I had a fair bit of experience with tagging at high speed, but I had never felt this much pressure before, even with the cops hightailing it towards me as I took time to spray their cars with my own brand of art.

My name? That doesn't matter. You can call me Jolt. I'm 16, and I've been doing this shit for about two years. I live in Shibuya-Cho in the city of Tokyo-to. And I think it's finally time I join a gang.

I had to choose carefully which gang I went after. No one likes playing second fiddle. It's unlikely I'd get into a gang if I had already failed at getting into another, know what I'm saying?

Poison Jam? No, no way. Too far from home and besides, I don't really like monster movies.

Noise Tanks? I can't get into hacking. I ain't got the patience for it.

The Love Shockers are bunny-boilers and the other gangs are either assholes or losers.

That leaves one gang. The GG's. These guys put an end to the 21st century project a while back. If I was gonna run with a gang, it might as well be them.

I was getting close now, and I could make out one of the GG's, standing under the tag location, her black clothes and hair contrasting against the sun. Even though I couldn't really make out her face, I could tell she was smiling.

And now, here we go. I dashed as hard as possible, and leapt at the wall. A streak of blue kicked up and i jumped onto a rail. I jumped and slammed against the wall in another ride before i finally jumped on last time, ground and sprayed my tag, a sort of lightning bolt slashing a 'J', with a mean grin on it while it's doing it.

I landed right next to the girl and bowed as theatrically as possible.

"Yeah, i guess you can roll with the GG's. My name's Cube. Meet me back here tomorrow and I'll take you to our HQ, okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, cool."

She nodded and ground up the rail and out of sight.

I laughed and did a little victory dance before I jumped too and rode downhill in the direction of home.

Home. I hate that place. My dad died when I was real young, so my mom remarried. Then she died in a car crash leaving my stepdad to look after me. I walked right past him without a word, my skates under my arm. He knew I was a Rudie, and he didn't care. Which suits me fine. I got friends who take care of me. They weren't Rudies of course, but they knew I was. Sometimes I'd tag for one of them if they wanted.

I stomped up into my room and shut the door behind me. I fell asleep in bed without bothering to get changed.

I woke up the next day and the first thing I did was pull on my skates. I gave myself a quick check in the mirror.

I was wearing an electric blue T-shirt with a stylised lightning bolt on the front and a yellow stripe down the sleeves, matching trousers and black gloves. My pale brown long hair was pulled into a ponytail, although a couple of errant strands still fell in my face. Over my eyes I wore visor-like sunglasses with blue lenses. After I decided that I was good to go I leapt out of my bedroom's first floor window, ground along a telephone wire and headed to where I was gonna meet my new ally.


	2. Where's K?

Cube met me in the same place sure enough. "Follow me." That was all she said before taking off down an alley.

Eventually we wound up in a derelict housing project, and I followed Cube to a large garage. From inside, thumping techno music blared out. The goth chick skidded to a halt at the door, bent slightly to grip the handle and pulled the door up.

"Hey, guys!" Cube called as she rolled in. "I brought the newbie!"

I rolled in after her, looking curiously at everything, from the souped up hot rod in front of me to the doghouse at the very back. Deep down, I felt embarrassed as several eyes focused on me. Immediately I began to recognise faces.

A guy, about my age walked towards me and grinned. Beat slapped me a high five and said. "Hey, it's Jolt, isn't it? Welcome to the GG's."

"Hey." I said, in an attempt to seem indifferent that didn't quite work. "You're Beat, am I right? You ten-tagged the Noise Tanks a while back didn't you?"

Beat grinned again and scratched the back of his head in flattered embarrassment.

"Let me introduce you to the rest of the guys. You already know Cube, that's her friend from Grind City, Combo." A huge black guy, with a gold Yen necklace and a massive Ghetto Blaster, turned at the mention of his name, and grinned at me.

"That's Gum and Tab, the other two gang founders." Tab waved but Gum merely crossed her arms and looked at me critically.

"What's with her?" I whispered.

"She's always kinda cold to newbies like yourself. That's Garam over there with Yo-yo." A tall, thin black man, wearing fly-like goggles and sky camouflage trousers was sat on a step, in conversation with a short guy in a green hoodie. He apparently said something funny because in a couple of seconds they both dissolved in laughter.

Nearby a tall man, in a high-collared trench-coat was playing on the pinball machine in the corner and by the beeps, whistles and pings, he was doing well.

"Slate's kind of quiet, but he's a good guy." Just then, Slate swore loudly, obviously having just lost.

"This is Mew." The small, blue clothed Chinese girl was bopping along to the music throbbing from the collection of speakers she was sat on. She winked and waved.

"Potts the dog." The bulldog with the odd helmet mooed at me.

"Hang on." Beat was looking around. "Where's Piranha gone?"

Gum glided over. "She went out on a tag spree in Benten-Cho about two hours ago, she hasn't come back yet."

"It doesn't take two hours to tag the spots in Benten-Cho. I wonder what's keeping her." Beat looked thoughtful. "I wonder if maybe-"

Just then all of the gang's, including my own, radio wristwatches crackled and hissed, indicating that Jet Set Radio's DJ, Professor K, was going to make an announcement.

"Jet Set Radio! This is your ringmaster of rhythm, your trapeze artist of tunes, DJ Professor K! Hey! Hey! What's going on! Get off me, motherfucker!" The sounds of a struggle came in over the radio, and were soon replaced by a rasping, cruel voice. "This is a message for the GG's. We have your friend, Piranha, and now we have Professor K. If you wish to see either of them again, you will come to the factory in the old construction site in Kogane-Cho and hand over your turf to the Crimson Claws. End Transmission."

Tab leapt to his feet. "Those bastards! Kidnapping one of our gang! I'll ten-tag 'em then i'll tear 'em a new one!"

Mew had hopped down from her place and as well as anger, had an expression of confusion on her face. "They can't kidnap Professor K! Can they? Isn't there like a law against that?"

Even though I had just joined, I could feel as sense of gang pride and outrage welling up inside me. I wanted the Crimson Claws to pay. And yet... I had no idea who the Crimson Claws were. Combo didn't either apparently because the next thing he said was "Who are the Crimson Claws, man?"

Yo-yo came up with the answer. "They're a new gang. They dress all in red and use these special gloves with claws on the fingers to cut up property and even other people. Merciless. Edge, their leader, is a real psycho. Yo, man, there's no way I'm putting up a fight with those assholes."

Gum whacked him upside the head. "Don't be a loser. Beat, what are we gonna do?"

I looked to Beat, as did everyone else. He was looking thoughtful, his arms folded and his brow furrowed underneath his green sunglasses. 

"The construction site. That had lots of grind places. A fairly open part of Kogane-cho. All I know right now for sure is that I am not just gonna troop in there and get killed so those bastards can have GG turf. So, this is what's gonna happen. Piranha and Professor K will be inside the factory. It's the only place where they won't be visible by passers-by. Gum, Tab and I will go meet them and distract them with negotiations and even fists. Combo, Cube, Mew and Slate will flank us and provide back up in case things get ugly, as they undoubtedly will. Garam, Yo-yo and Jolt will sneak inside the factory, free Piranha and K, and escape through the manhole by the old crane but not before informing us mission accomplished over the radio watches. We'll set off in thirty minutes."


	3. The Rescue

That was the tensest half-hour I'd ever experienced. Garam paced, Mew was hopping nervously from foot to foot. Even Slate had ceased playing pinball and was instead idly staring out the window.

Eventually Beat stood up and announced, "It's time."

Soon, we were dashing for all we were worth, Northeast in the direction of Kogane-cho.

We split up in the residential area, with Garam, Yo-yo and myself, dropping through a manhole into the sewers, and the rest jumping on a car to get to the rooftops.

Yo-yo was grinding off every rail he could find, and Garam had elected to skate backwards, talking to me as I struggled not to pass out from the stench. "I say we do this clean and quiet, man. Get in, get the prisoners, get out."

"Yeah... but what if there's trouble?"

"Well..." He grinned, which was very disconcerting with those fly-eye goggles "...we join in!"

Yo-yo's voice called from up ahead. "Yo! Found the spot! Get over here, slug-ass!"

"I'll give him slug-ass." Garam growled and dashed ahead. I dashed too, if only to keep up.

A manhole cover was pushed quietly aside with the barest of scrapes.

Yo-yo, then Garam, then me crawled out and kept low as possible, crawling away from the crane, and to the wall that overlooked the big yard, where the small factory, our objective, was.

"Hey." Garam whispered. "Look at that!"

I looked and I could make out Beat, Tab and Gum arguing with three figures, all in red. The one in the middle, I guessed, was Edge. He was unusually tall, wearing a long crimson trenchcoat. His hair, also red, was spiked with a short, stubby ponytail. His cronies were a guy with a red Mohawk and a buxom girl with scarlet, shoulder length hair. The Mohawk stepped forward aggressively at something Tab said, but was waved away by Edge, whose entire posture seemed relaxed, not at all how I pictured a psychopath to act.

Yo-yo nudged me in the ribs. "C'mon, we gotta go, man."

I tore my eyes away, and crawled over the wall, dropping down onto the roof of the factory. Garam pulled open a window as quietly as possible. It was just big enough for him to slip, through, being the biggest amongst this group of three. We dropped into the factory as stealthily as possible.

"Hey." I pointed. A dark-skinned girl wearing white clothes, green gloves and red goggles and a black guy with massive dreadlocks and sunglasses, were trussed up against a thick, roof-supporting pillar, both gagged.

Garam and I immediately skated over to free them, while Yo-yo kept a lookout, peering through a narrow dusty window. "Damn... it looks like those guys are getting carried away."

I fumbled with the ropes around Piranha's waist, trying to keep as calm as possible and keep my hands to myself. She was struggling, trying to say something through the gag. So was Prof. K. Garam looked at me, puzzled. I nodded, and we both pulled off the gags.

"It's an ambush!" They both shouted in unison.

At that moment, all hell broke loose. From seemingly nowhere, several red-clad skaters descended onto us. And all of them had those infamous gloves on. Yo-yo skated back to us, and we all stood back to back, as they closed in on us. There was a crash, and a massive shadow dropped through a hole in the roof. A huge hand swatted away one of the Crimson Claws, causing him to fly backwards into a wall and fall unconscious. It took a moment to register, but when it did, I realised our saviour was carrying a Ghetto Blaster on one shoulder. Combo grinned at me, but there were still more Claws trying to attack.

Yo-yo dashed low and hard, tackling one of them, which was on the verge of sinking his bladed fingers into Combo's back. Garam merely blocked a swiping claw and delivered a swift left hook to another. Three down, five to go.

I grappled with another gang member, pulled away, dropped and swept his feet out from underneath him. Just as a final insult, I pulled out a can of blue paint, and sprayed a quick tag that said 'loser' in big letters.

Something hit me across the head, and I went down. I looked up groggily to see a large, leering Crimson Claw bear down on me with his fist. Something tapped on his shoulder, he turned, and there was a crunch before he went down. Professor K was stood over me, rubbing his fist. "You wanna be more careful, kid."

"Thanks." I said, and looked at my would-be killer. He had a large 'K' imprinted on his forehead.

Soon, but not soon enough, all eight of our attackers were dispatched. "Yeah! Yeah!" Yo-yo was shadowboxing, showing off imaginary skills. "Kicked some ass, man!"

"Look man, stop showing off. What about Beat and the others?" Garam skated over to the door just as Tab came in.

"You okay?" Tab was looking around and his eyes fell on the fallen Claws. He grinned, and with lips like his that was a bit of a shock. "Guess so."

I couldn't contain myself. "What happened?"

"I don't know. After a while, Edge just says 'Right, we're done here' and fucks off. Gum was all for chasin' 'em and layin' the smack down but face it. I bet Edge could take us all on at once. He's got some skills besides skatin' and taggin', you can tell. Well never mind."

Professor K walked over. "Props, guys. You saved my ass, but I'd better go off on my own, to get back to Jet Set Radio. It is a secret location after all. Catch ya later, dudes!" He waved, grinned, and walked around the corner and out of sight.

Beat rolled in. "C'mon, guys. Let's get back." I could tell he was bummed over not resolving things with Edge. He turned to Piranha. "Can you skate?"

"Of course! Can't keep me off my blades, man!"

He grinned. "Great. Let's roll."


	4. Fire!

We were out of Kogane-cho soon and cutting through the streets of Shibuya-cho.

"Hey." Piranha had rolled up next to me. "Thanks for, like, helping me back there. I was scared Yo-yo was gonna try to undo me and do me at the same time, know what I mean?"

I could feel a red flush rising. "Y-yeah. No problem."

She smiled, and then... "Wait. What's that smell? Burning? Oh my god!" She pointed frantically. Only then did I realise that everyone had stopped dead. A large column of black smoke was curling up from a location that could only be the garage.

Cube was beside me, where I was standing. "Oh, man..." came the awed, shocked whisper.

"Potts! POTTS! My dog!" Beat was gone before any of us realised. All we could see was a rapidly shrinking figure, blue sparks trailing from the back of his skates.

We took off after him.

I'd never known a fire to tower so high, even from a one-story garage. I could feel the heat from where we were standing just twenty of so metres away.

Beat had stopped for a second to stare in awe of the blaze. Then he went to dash straight into the heart of the fire. Tab had caught up with him just in time to try and stop him. He had his hands on Beat's shoulders and was trying to hold him back, not an easy feat when wearing skates.

"Beat! You can't go in, you'll die, man!"

"I can't just fucking leave my dog in there to die! I gotta try to save him.

"Why isn't someone getting the fire service?" I heard Mew ask.

Yo-yo replied. "The fire service? Come out for a bunch of rudies in a derelict building? You're even more naive than I thought."

I turned to look at Mew. She was starting to cry.

Beat was struggling harder than ever, and crying. A car killed my pet dog when I was real little and the driver didn't even stop. Since then, I can't stand to see animals suffer. Before I knew it I was dashing harder and faster than ever before, ignoring Tab and Beat's cries of surprise, and bombing through the locked door of the garage with all my weight.

I crashed into the garage. Everything looked like it had been covered with red paint. There was fire everywhere. The sound system had exploded and shards were littering the floor. "Potts! Potts!" I yelled as loud as I could. It was so hot and I was beginning to feel slightly light-headed from the lack of oxygen.

I could hear a yelping from over by the door. Through a fuzzy curtain that had seemed to drop in front of my eyes, I could see Potts. He had run from his melting kennel over to the hot rod, and had clambered up, where he was now, whining pitifully. I skidded over, grabbed him off the car, skated over to the window, which had shattered, and heaved him bodily through.

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Now, all I have... to do... was climb... through after him... 

It felt like a large vice was around my head, like something was trying to push my eyes out from the inside. I couldn't breathe, I sank to my knees and everything went black.

(_Perhaps the world's shortest chapter, but I am doing this in school in my free lessons, and besides this just seemed like a good place to leave you in suspense...)_


	5. New Love and New Lodging

I was floating through a veil of red, past it and into something of a colour I could never hope to describe. It was warm, and soft and silent. Until the silence was shattered. I could hear a voice calling me. No, several voices. I wanted to go to them, I didn't want peace and warmth. Not yet, anyway. What I craved right now, was noise, speed, risk and colour. The hardships I'd be bound to endure would only make me stronger. _'Go.'_ A voice echoed from all sides at once. _'And return when you truly have finished in life.'_ And then, I was thrust back through the clouds, and I landed with a silent crash.

It's disconcerting opening your eyes from sleep in a foreign place, and the harshness of the strip lights above me compared to the gentle glow from where I thought (or dreamed) I had just been compounded my discomfort. Shadows were all around me, all different sizes.

"Jolt?" I heard a familiar voice. I struggled, and opened my eyes wider to focus on the speaking shadow. Under my slightly improved gaze, the shadow gained colours. An orange top, black trousers and large green goggles.

"Beat?" My voice sounded weak and cracked. My lips were dry.

"Yeah, man. It's Beat. How ya feeling?"

"Thirsty, and very dry."

As my vision improved further and the clouds of dehydrated grogginess subsided, I began to recognise all the GG's all standing around, looking nervous and grim. I also noticed someone else. A fairly old man, with grey spiky hair and a long white coat. He grinned at me as he sidled over to stand next to Beat. "You're a lucky kid, Jolt. Not many people could last that long in a fire like that and only get out with third degree burns. And you're fortunate to have buds like Beat and Tab that were there to pull you out after you fell unconscious from the lack of oxygen."

I sat up. We were all in a fairly large room, which any idiot would be able to recognise as a medical examination room.

"Where are we?" I asked. We couldn't possibly be in hospital, or the Keisatsu would be storming the place the second they heard of a bunch of rudies in one place, at one time."

The guy in the white coat grinned again and then answered. "My practice in Shibuya-cho. I'm Dr. Thomas Suzuki, but you can call me Skid. It was my nickname when I was a rudie, but now I'm a 'legit' doctor, and I treat rudies secretly on the side. I guess old habits are hard to break, right?" 

Garam peered at me with his trademark fly-eye goggles. "Hey, man. Can you walk okay?"

"Garam!" Piranha skated easily over. For some reason I couldn't think of off-hand her eyes looked kind of red. "Go easy! He just got yanked out of a fire, for God's sake."

Garam put up his hands defensively. " I know, I know. It's just... we shouldn't be in one place too long, you know? And while we're all crammed in here, I bet all the gangs are tagging up our turf. That, and we need a new hangout."

Beat clapped a hand to his forehead like this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Shit, you're right. Okay, we'd better head out. We'll split up into four groups. Mew and Tab, head into Benten-cho. Gum, Slate, take Kogane-cho. Combo and Yo-yo, you take Shibuya-cho. The rest of the gang and I'll search for a crash place to replace the old garage." With that, he made to go to the open window that led to the fire escape that the rudies used as an entrance.

Piranha's green-gloved hand went tentatively into the air. "Uh, Beat? Is it okay if I stay behind? You know, keep Jolt company and all..."

"Yeah, okay..." Beat looked genuinely perplexed.

As they filed out, Yo-yo leered, and Garam and Tab both flashed a thumbs-up.

Once they left, Skid made for the door at the summons of his beeper. "I've got a couple of people waiting. See you guys later. And Jolt? Relax, okay? You'll get better quicker."

He shut the door behind him.

I swung my legs over so they dangled off the bed. "I feel fine. I should be out with the rest of the gang."

Piranha had seated herself on the bed next to me. I turned slightly to see her better.

"They'd worry if you were skating so soon after the fire."

"I'm fine! I just caught some smoke and got a couple of burns." I pointed to my bandaged forearm.

"I know. But still..."

I felt the tension ease a bit. I knew for a fact I'd be too slow, what with the 'after-effects of mild Carbon Monoxide poisoning.'

There was an awkward silence, then the white-clad rudie turned and gave me a small smile. "That was really brave, you know. Saving Potts. No one was expecting a newbie to try a stunt like that. Although, I think it's safe to say that you aren't a newbie anymore."

I could feel a blush rise. I saw a tinge of pink in her chocolate brown cheeks as well.

Then there was a crackle as two radio watches came to life all at once. "Yo, this is you're on and only rudie pirate radio station, sailing the airwaves with the Jolly Roger flying high and proud! Jet Set Radio! The new gang on the block, the Crimson Claws, is claiming responsibility for the burnout at the GG's place that nearly killed our newest member. The GG's are pissed and they want revenge. Looks like a storm's coming, and the claws are the lightning rod!"

"The Claws..." A searing ball of rage suddenly rose in my stomach. My fists clenched. Piranha's hands cupped mine. She looked my square in the eyes with hers.

"Calm down." She said. And then she kissed me.

I'd kissed girls before, and done other stuff like that too, but for some reason this moment, this experience, beat them all.

After too short a time, she pulled back. My eyes opened and I gazed at her. "Umm... wow." My words came out in an almost hoarse whisper. "I liked that."

Piranha's face broke into a grin and a blush. "Me too."

We were still holidng hands. There was something about that realisation that made a warmth spread throughout my body. "Can... Can we do that again?" I asked. I was nervous as hell.

The white-clad rudie shrugged. "I don't see why not."

And we were kissing for a long time.

After a while, we stopped. "Are we gonna tell anyone about this?" I asked Piranha, who was now lying on me, with my arms wrapped about her waist. I could smell her sweet scent in her hair, which was now tickling my nose.

"I don't know. Think we should? I mean, is it the right time to announce things what the Crimson Claws hanging about?"

I thought for a second. "Yeah. We'll wait until we beat them, then we'll spill."

We leapt from each other, as the door slammed open. Yo-yo slid in, and he must've seen the looks on our faces because he leered at us.

"Hey, guys. Whassup?"

"Nothing." I said just a little too quickly.

The little green git folded his arms and grinned ear to ear. "Suuure there ain't. Hey, dude, can you skate okay? Only cos we found ourselves a sweet little house in Three Blades Street. Got plumbing an' everything." Let's go, Yo?"

I pulled myself off the bed, slid my feet into my skates and did them up. Piranha had already headed out of the window on to the fire escape and I could hear the scrape of her grinding down the banisters.

"So..." Yo-yo leaned over and nudged me in the ribs. "What happened between you guys?"

The blush made another unwelcome return.

"Nothing." And then I was out of the window and down the banister.

Soon enough, we reached Three Blades Street and Gum's 'Pop' graffiti labelled the house. I rolled round the side of the house, knowing that the front door was going to be blocked up and down the alley where I searched for a way in. Behind me, a Dumpster shuddered briefly and began to move forward on old rusted wheels. A stray cat jumped out, and hissed the feline equivalent of 'fuck you' at me. Mew's made-up face grinned out at me from the basement trap door that had been hidden by the Dumpster. "Home sweet home, huh?"

It was no mean feat, going down a steep staircase into a basement with wheels on. Eventually I managed it, and found myself in a musty room lit by a dirty window near the ceiling and a single naked lightbulb. Mew beckoned me over, to a short stairway leading up to a beaten old door. "This way."

I clambered up the stairs and into the front room of the old house where the rest of the gang were sat. The interior of the house looked like it hadn't seen people for years, every surface looked like it was covered in almost 3 inches of dust. Two musty sofas sat at right angles to each other in the corner of the room. A dirty pool table with ripped baize rested forlornly to one side. In a corner of the room a spiral staircase of black metal curled into hole in the ceiling, presumably to the next floor up.

Some of the GG's were stood in various spots throughout the room, looking around, inspecting the various miscellaneous items that littered the place. Yo-yo and Combo were inspecting the pool table critically and I heard snatches of conversation. "Yo, Combo? What do ya think? Salvageable?"

"Maybe with some new baize. But that shit's expensive. We'd either have to steal it, or dip into spray paint funds. Plus, we need some cues, and a new set of balls. These ones are chipped to hell."

I skated over. "There's a youth club with a pool table in White Lion Avenue." I suggested. "Why not nick one of their spare sets of balls? And surely some of the local bars won't miss some of their spare cues..."

Combo looked thoughtful for a moment and then grinned. "I like the way you think, man. Hey, Beat!"

Beat's head appeared upside down from the hole where the spiral staircase led. He evidently couldn't be bothered to go all the way downstairs and instead was just hanging from the floor above. "Yeah?" Beat asked.

"Is it okay if a couple of us go on a supply raid?"

"Okay, but make sure you ain't followed. I don't wanna lose another hideout so soon after the last one."

The massive black skater nodded and turned to Yo-yo. "Coming? Good. And what about you, Jolt?"

I shook my head, my ponytail jiggling slightly. "Nah, man. I think I'll stay here and get accustomed.

"Suit yourself. Hey, Garam! C'mon man!"

Garam rose from the sofa where he had been lounging and followed them into the basement.

I rolled over to the sofa, which was occupied by Slate who was silent, staring into space. I assumed he was distraught over the loss of his pinball machine. I jogged up the staircase to the next floor. This floor consisted of a small landing, which elongated into a long hall with doors on either side. Beat skated from room to room. I guessed he was deciding which would be his. As I moved down the corridor, I saw Cube in one of the room, lying down on an old mattress, dozing. In another room, Tab was talking animatedly with Gum.

"Look, girl! We need to get some paint and tag up before we worry about money!"

"What do you need to buy paint, Tab? I'll give you a clue. It's six inches long, two inches wide, and begins with a "Y". Yen, Dumbass!"

"We don't need money to get paint! We just mug the other gangs for paint and thieve their cash too!"

"Mug them? What if there aren't any gang members around? And no offence Tab, but you're hardly the strongest guy in the world. I've seen you knocked flat by those Noise Tank geeks."

Tab's face went red. I decided that perhaps this would be the right time to move away.

The door to the next room was closed, but there was someone inside. I could hear muffled voices, Piranha's and Mew's, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I felt my heart skip a beat as I imagined what they were talking about with just a hint of paranoia.

I entered a room at the end of the corridor. It was empty, with the exception of a battered closet and moth-eaten drapes. It'd do for a room, once I got something that passed for a bed.

Eventually, Yo-yo, Combo and Garam came back holding two pool cues and a box of balls. Combo was carrying a large roll of green felt. "I know a guy that'll fit this onto the table for us."

Beat walked over. He'd taken his skates off and had been in the middle of oiling the wheels and removing dirt from the magnets. "Where have you guys been? We need to have a meeting."

"What about?" Garam scratched the back of his head.

"What we're going to do about the Crimson Claws."

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A fairly boring chapter, I know. Not too much action, but that's all gonna change in the next chapter! Keep Reading and Reviewing!


	6. Robbery

"Jet Set Radio! The Claws have got their grip on Tokyo-to, and they're not gonna let go. Even Onishima's been painted a new shade of red. The other gangs are lying well low after they wiped out three Noise Tanks for trying to cut their power. Someone's gonna have to do something soon, or we're all gonna be their scratching posts!"

I, like everyone else, fell silent as the broadcast crackled over the airwaves. Once it cut out, everyone started talking at once. Beat stood up, stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled. "Hey! Everybody calm down! Now listen. This is important. We have to take the Claws down. And I don't mean that we just ten-tag them and cover their tags."

"Then what do you mean?" Mew piped up from where she was sitting against the wall next to Piranha and Garam. I looked at her over my visor. She wasn't being naive, I could tell. She was hoping against hope, like I was, that what she thought was coming next was wrong.

"This is now a war, guys. And in wars, people die. Ten-tagging won't work. These aren't the kind of guys that follow the code. They'll keep coming back if we tag them a hundred times. We have to use..." -He hesitated- "lethal force."

"You're kidding, right?" I asked. "Kill them? I'm all for kicking ass, but I think I'll have a little trouble just ending someone like that."

Beat span around at looked straight at me. "Either that, or they keep burning down our headquarters, or they catch one of us late one night, and..." He drew a finger across his throat.

"Can't we just knock them out and leave them for Onishima?" Cube had risen from her sitting place on a faded stool.

"Try that if you like, but bear in mind that they will kill you if you piss them around. No one goes out anywhere alone until we start to pack some heat. Yo-yo? Can you do something about that? Maybe a guy with access to some gear?"

"Yeah. But I ain't goin' unless Combo comes with."

Combo raised himself to his feet and rolled out after Yo-yo.

"So now what?" I asked.

"We-ell..." Tab said. "We either brood about the imminent war, or we play cards." He produced a pack from his boiler suit.

Two hours later, myself and the other gang members were trapped in various states of undress.

Garam covered himself as much as he could with a frayed cushion and pouted. "Bust four times! That ain't right!"

"Yeah, tell me about it." I'd managed to delay exposure by cheating and claiming that hair bands, shades and gloves were individual items of clothing. I shot a nasty glance at Gum, which is hard to do convincingly when you have your shirt off. "That girl's got the ultimate poker face."

Gum smirked at me and winked mischievously.

It was a hard battle for me actually, my mind wasn't on winning the game. It was more on Piranha and the fact that she was losing, if you catch my drift.

"Less chat, more cards, guys." Gum shuffled and cut the cards flawlessly.

It was Mew who said what we were all thinking, once again. "I think we're being hustled."

Yo-yo and Combo came back after we'd given up and everyone had got dressed again. Once Garam had told him and he'd ranted about missing the fun, he reported his findings.

"Yo guys, bad news! Seems that Jose don't got no guns anymore. Police raid. Looks like we gonna have to get our own stuff."

"Right, then." Beat seemed relieved. I guess he just didn't like guns. "First it's important that we reclaim our turf. But NO-ONE does it alone. We travel in no less than groups of three and no splitting up. One guy sprays the other keep guard. But first we need paint. To get paint we need money. Any ideas?"

"I have one." I stuck my hand in the air. "On Golden Phoenix Street there's a DIY shop and I think their CCTV is down because the last time I went there to buy paint, I heard an electronics guy talking about no parts for two weeks. Anyway, with no Security it should be fairly easy to break in and get some cash and maybe even some paint, right?"

"Hmm." Beat put his hand to his chin. "Okay. Yo-yo, Cube, Jolt and me will make the break-in. We wait for after dark. Jolt and me will take the duffel bags. Acually, Combo, you come too. In case we need some muscle."

Combo grumbled something about having been out once already but nodded anyway.

Down the dark alleys and back streets, the only sounds were rolling wheels and the surprised screech of a cat that got landed on by Yo-yo. It was eerie as hell and even Combo was jumping at shadows.

"You think people are scared to walk the streets?" Cube was skating alongside me and Beat. Her pale skin looked even whiter in the ambient light of Shibuya-cho at night. "Not even the Golden Rhinos caused this kind of fear. If I wasn't shitting myself, I'd be impressed."

I looked at her. Even in the short time I'd known her, I knew that she wasn't the kind to admit being scared of anything. "I know the feeling."

She looked at me and smiled.

"Heads up, guys." Combo rumbled. "There's the shop."

Golden Phoenix Street was one of the larger shopping streets in Shibuya-Cho, just a few minutes walk from the bus terminal. The neon sign for "The Tool Box" glowed in the dark. I looked up and down the street. No one was around. It was dark, it was far enough away from the nearest police station to take the keisatsu some time to get here and there were plenty of narrow alleys to run to if something went wrong. Perfect break-in scenario. We sneaked around the back, and Yo-yo produced a lockpick and went to work on opening the back door. We all kept lookout while Yo-yo did his thing. Beat and Cube had agreed to watch the street for keisatsu.

The lock went click, and we were in.

Eventually, we found the shelf with the spray cans and Combo and Beat began to brush them off the shelf and into the duffel bags while Yo-yo worked on the till and Cube kept watch. I was looking around the shop. It was a fairly basic store. Big, boxes of nails on one shelf, hammers on the other. A Crimson Claws tag on the floor...

Hang on. That's not right...

"Guys, it's a trap!" My frantic cry was cut out as the front window of the shop shattered inwards. I shielded my face from the flying shards and saw who had broken the window. It was the mohawked guy from the factory rescue and he was accompanied by six claws, two of whom even now were headed for me. I dropped low and swept one of the skaters' feet from under him and then rose in an uppercut, which landed on the other skater's chin. As he went down he lashed out with his clawed glove and fetched me three long scratches down my arm. Combo threw himself two more claws and squashed them against the wall. Beat appeared from another aisle, armed with a nail gun. He dropped to one knee and fired, hitting another skater square in the arse. The Mohawk pulled out a switchblade and attempted to stab Cube, who dodged once but wasn't so successful the second time, as the Mohawk's follow-up left a thin red line on her cheek. She shouted in surprise and booted him straight in the crotch. Beat shouted at us, nailgun still in hand. "Run! Yo-yo, leave the rest of the cash!"

Yo-yo finished shovelling money into his pockets and leapt through the window. The others followed and I went to leave, casting one final look at the fallen skaters. As I turned, I felt something heavy crash against the back of my head, and everything went red, then black. The last thing I heard was the laughter of the Mohawked man.


	7. Imprisoned

I stirred painfully and opened one eye. Blurry vision allowed only a vague view of a room, covered in blood red painted tags. I attempted to rub my eyes, only to find that I couldn't move them. Bleary-eyed I looked up and saw that my wrists were held to a pipe by cruel black handcuffs. My skates were off as was made obvious by the cold floor under my socks. A battered old table and chair stood in the middle of the room, giving the impression of an interrogation chamber.

"Oh, looky. The GG's awake." I became aware of a shrill, cackling voice and hot breath in front of my face. I forced my eyes open, flooding them with harsh red light from numerous naked lightbulbs lighting the small room I was in. The voice was coming from some guy I'd never seen before, looking me straight in the face. He was wearing some weird red coat that looked like a cross of a trenchcoat and a hoodie. Over his eyes he was wearing a pair of glasses with one lens circular and another rectangular. A scruffy red-dyed goatee adorned his chin. He laughed, foul breath washing over me.

"Cadmium, leave the little shit alone and go tell Edge that his guest is up and about." I looked for the source of the second voice and saw that it was the busty girl from the warehouse. She was leant against the opposite wall with her arms nonchalantly behind her red hair. Cadmium sidled out of the room and shut the beaten old door behind him.

After a few seconds, the girl pushed off the wall and came over to look at me. She was slightly bent over, deliberately allowing a view of her not inconsiderable cleavage.

"Hiya." She said. It would've sounded friendly if it hadn't been for the sneer twisting her cupid's bow lips. "You're real stupid. You know that? Wandering around with your fuckwit rudie buddies around our turf and then turning your back on Blood like that."

"It was our turf. Shibuya-cho? Remember? Or were your brains shagged out your ears too badly for you to get your facts straight?"

She slapped me. Hard. I didn't think that for such a relatively thin girl, she'd be able to pack such a wallop, but she obviously did, because coupled with my headache from the Mohawk's (who I guessed was actually called Blood) thump on the head, the shock from her blow caused my vision to waver and stars to explode in front of my eyes.

"Listen, shitdick. We own this city now. No fucker'll even step outside, let alone challenge us. Except for you and your GG pals, that is. You're the one that's stupid. You're tied up, defenceless and you're shooting your mouth off. You're lucky you got l'i'l old me keeping you company. Blood or Cadmium would've flipped by now. You'd be meat."

"Lucky me." I said, my words slurred.

"Yup. Lucky you. Except for the mouth on you, you're kinda cute. Who knows, maybe if you behave real well, I might fuck you. As a matter of fact, let's see what you have to offer..." Her hand snaked down to my trousers and I began to squirm in a vain attempt to escape. Suddenly the door swung open and in walked the man known as Edge. "Leave him alone, Ruby."

Ruby instantly recoiled and slunk out the door.

Edge shut the door behind her as she left. Then, to my surprise, he moved over to me and unlocked the handcuffs. As I fell to my knees, rubbing my wrists, he moved back away from me, his long red coat sweeping behind him.

"Ah, the baby of the GG litter. Newest arrival, right?" I nodded, watching him like a hawk.

"You know." He said, now pacing the small room. "You GG's are the biggest gang that this city can remember except for us. You know that? Eleven members and counting. You seem to grow all the time, and spread through Tokyo-to. You know what else grows non-stop and spreads like wildfire?" All of a sudden he brought his fist down on the table, causing the beaten thing to groan in protest.

"DISEASE!" He shouted so loud my ears rang.

He continued, and in his eyes I could see the chilling spark of madness dancing and taunting me. Now I knew why Yo-yo was so scared of him. "That's what you GG's, Noise Tanks, Poison Jammers and everyone else are! Germs, viruses, that infect the entire city with your foul scribbles. You're not worthy of holding a can, you're not worthy of leaving wheel-marks on the streets. You're not even worthy of speaking the word 'rudie'!"

He was shaking now, burning with some inner rage, but then seemed to calm down instantly. Then he spoke in a different voice. One that chilled me more than his rant. A calm, normal voice that was filled with menace.

"But me and mine know the true worth of this city. We value it. We love it. We know what art is as well. You know, Jolt, That is your name, isn't it? Yes. You know, white is associated with purity, wholesomeness? It's the colour that is formed from the unity of all the colours of the rainbow, and therefore it's considered the best! But they have it wrong. White isn't the be-all and end-all of colours. What of red? You know what red is associated with, don't you? Courage, passion, ferocity, POWER! Now I ask you, aren't those things so much better than purity, unity, conformity? Which is why I ask you, shouldn't this great city, which has raised us inside its womb of steel and concrete, be rewarded by being painted in the colour of the Gods? And to be ruled by one who truly values it's beauty? Well?"

He paused and it was in this pause that I found my voice, and my courage.

"You're nuts." I said. "You're off your fucking rocker! Do you truly think that you're better just because you wear a particular colour? That you can just waltz in and take over, deny people the right to express themselves all because they don't see in black and white and red like you?" I strode over and got right in his face, even though I only came up to his chin. "What gives you the right to terrorise people because they don't follow your maniac ideals?"

The pain from the blows to the head had gone and had just been replaced by burning rage. How dare this lanky fuck think he was better than anyone, or me? There was a guy like that once in Germany and he got his ass whupped and his twisted beliefs crushed underfoot where they belonged with the rest of the shit! And far be it from me to break a tradition. I swung my fist at his head. And he caught it, and flung me down onto the table, which promptly broke in half.

He still held my wrist, and the fingertips of his other hand were in a chisel point digging into my throat. His knee pressed upon my side. _Oh, fuck._ I thought as my vision came and went._ The guy knows Judo and he's mad as a spoon. And this is how I'm going to die. But if I am going to die it won't be choking and wailing like a pussy. It'll my with my fist in his... face!_ As I thought the last word, I gathered all my strength into my fist and sent a left hook crashing into the side of his head. He flew off me and landed in the corner.

I had barely managed to pull myself from the wreckage of the table, Edge sprang back to his feet. His nose was bleeding and a big smile was on his face. "Nice shot." He said. "Maybe you have what it takes to help me rule this city. But first we need to get you some new gear. Those blue clothes really aren't suitable."

"Fuck you. Zealots aren't my thing." I spat.

Apparently he could still move quickly because the next thing I knew my back was against the wall, his hand about my throat and what was evidently a very sharp knife pressing against my stomach. "You had your chance." He hissed at me. "Now, we're going to do this the hard way." He pushed the knife a little more so it just pierced the skin to emphasise the final two words. Needles of pain and adrenaline shot through my body. "What you're going to do is call your little GG buddies and tell them to come here. Tell them that you're safe and that you found our headquarters. And then, when they show up... well, you know. You will do this, or I'll kill you."

"Then..." I gasped. "You'd better use a bigger knife, because that pin you got there is just irritating."

Edge's eye twitched and then he stepped away from me and put the knife away. "Fine. But you know they'll come for you whether you ask them or not. I won't kill you, but when they arrive, I'll kill them one by one. Maybe I'll save that little chocolate girl of yours till last. Maybe my boys'll appreciate her."

I exploded and ran at him, straight on, fists flying. Calm as you like, he sidestepped and kicked me hard in the side. I felt a rib snap and more coloured stars of pain exploded in my head. He crouched low next to me and grabbed me by my collar.

"I will hunt them out and kill them. But... if you change your mind about joining the cause of the Claws, I will leave them to scurry like rats in a maze. I'll leave you a while to consider it."

He left the room and there was a click as he locked the door. Instantly, fighting the pain that was shooting through my side, I rose and went to test the door. It looked sturdy. And there was no way I was gonna be able to break it in my state. That bastard had given me no choice. If I refused to join, then this wound would go septic and kill me if I hadn't already starved in this room. If by some miracle I managed to escape, then the city's supply of Claws would be on my ass faster than you could say 'Oh shit, I've been found.' And Edge was right. Like it or not, the GG's would come for me. And they'd roll right into a trap.

I weighed up my options and found a plot forming in my head. I began to bash at the door. Eventually a gruff voice answered from the other side of the door. "Whaddaya want, GG?"

Go get Edge. Tell him I've made up my mind. I'll join the Crimson Claws."


	8. Trials

Edge had re-entered the room and praised me for choosing the right path. He'd summoned a couple of Claws to take me to another room where they dressed me in blood red colours and burned my old clothes and my shades. I was angry as hell about it, but I didn't let it show. After all, wasn't I a new convert wishing to throw away all ties to the past? I was also mildly surprised when they didn't try to change my skates, but just got a paintbrush and painted them red and black. It was generally accepted that taking another rudie's skates away was a no-no. They dyed my hair from brown to dark crimson as well, which irritated me. Edge had come in later, slapped me on the back like we were old buddies, took me aside and told me about how things worked around here.

You were accepted on a provisional basis. Once you proved yourself in a variety of ways, you'd be given a glove and sworn in officially. Official claws had to wear red hoodies and trousers. Occasionally, a Claw would stand out enough to earn the right to be Edge's chosen and wear individual clothes. Blood, Cadmium and Ruby were the only chosen ones so far.

As I wandered around the corridors I realised I had no idea where I was, and neither did the other GG's. There was only one thing for it, I had to at some point figure out where I was, then get the message to the GG's and at the same time avoid doing any tags for the Claws for the sake of loyalty.

Easy enough...

Walking into a large room with a large shutter taking up one wall, giving away that it was a garage, with beaten and ripped furniture everywhere. I saw several of the Claws. They were lounging around, two on a red sofa, one spraying a tag of a flaming demon cat raking its claws along the wall, a couple playing a battered old Genesis. It looked from where I was standing that they were playing F-Zero. I liked that game, but seeing some weird red-obsessed rudies playing it sort of took the enjoyment edge off it.

"Hey, it's the newbie!" A tall Claw unfolded from a deckchair and stalked over to me. "Edge told me to tell you that when you finish getting your clothes, to get your ass over to the training area."

"The training area?" I echoed.

"Yeah, follow the signs that tell you to go to the parking lot."

"What?"

The tall guy rolled his eyes. "Don't you even know where you are?" I shook my head. "Fuckin' Hell. You know in Benten-Cho there's a half-built office building?"

I nodded.

"Well," He said proudly, "We own it. That's where we are now."

I nodded. "Cool." I said and I meant it. While I disliked the Claws and hated Edge, the thought of having an entire office building to call your hideout was just plain neat.

"Well get going, newbie."

I ground off a stair rail, jumped and wall rode over to the tarmac parking lot behind the building.

Edge was standing calmly in the middle of the lot, hands behind his back. Lounging by a battered old car were Cadmium, Blood and Ruby. Blood said something to the others and they laughed. Ruby had a sneer on her face. Edge turned to meet me as I rolled over the ground.

"Hey, Jolt." Edge was being amiable again and I wanted to hit him for it. I swallowed it, and said "Hey."

"Enjoying your new life as a Crimson Claw? Doesn't it feel more fitting to be on the winning side where you belong? You're a winner, Jolt. I can sense these things."

I mumbled a thank you and mentally screamed a fuck you at him.

"Wondering why I called you so early on after your recruitment?"

I was a little curious. "Kind of."

"Well, Jolt." He smiled. "I think you may have the stuff to be one of my favoured ones, like Cadmium, Blood and Ruby here."

  
I was genuinely surprised and before I could stop myself I blurted "What!?"

"Well..." Edge hesitated, like he was trying to get a train of thought on the right track. 

"No-one has ever landed a blow on me before. And I don't think that any of my boys could be as downright stupidly brave as you. How's your rib by the way?"

I instinctively put my hand to my bandaged side. "S'okay." I shrugged.

"Anyway... I didn't bring you here to have idle chit-chat."

"Then why did you call me?"

"Well, If you're going to be in this gang, you've got to learn how to fight. You've got some skills, but none of them are good enough yet to be a full fledged Claw."

"So what do I have to do then?"

"There are three trials. First, you gotta race Ruby through Benten, and get to at least two out of three tag points before she does. Next, you've got to fight Blood and win. Finally..." He smirked. "You've got to prove your loyalty by going out, and bringing back something dear to one of the GG's."

"Okay. When do we start?"

"Ooh, keen aren't we?" Edge grinned broadly and ran a hand through his spiked hair. "You can start anytime you're ready."

An hour later, I met Edge and his chosen ones back at the parking lot.

"Ready to go, Jolt?" Edge asked, positively amiable. I just nodded.

I rolled over to where the start line was marked, and Ruby came by a second later, reeking of cheap perfume. She winked and licked her lips at me and that infamous wave of revulsion came over me. Cadmium told us where the tag spots were.

One on the face of the octopus model in Benten Circle, one on the wall near where the pick-up truck was parked and one on Benten Tower's balcony.

Edge began the countdown.

Three...

Two...

One...

GO!

Instantly, we both shot forward, leaving twin trails of blue as we dashed for all we were worth. We were neck and neck long enough for the tart to whisper "You ain't gonna win, boy. You're going down." Then she bore down and moved into the lead. A rail was just ahead. I could tell that she was headed to the pick-up truck by the fact that she jumped the rail and went straight into town. Instead, I ground off to the right, headed for Benten circle. My path found me eventually skidding along the railing that crossed over above the Benten railway, where two old railway cars were rusting, covered in tags.

The sound of an approaching rail car made me wait a little before hooping onto the roof. So the wind wouldn't sweep me off the roof, I crouched and grabbed onto the edge between cars. I rode up the hill and jumped off at the workmen's entrance into Benten Circle, rolling up the cable, switching at the central pillar, skidding up another cable, jumping onto a hard shop canopy, and finally tagging the octopus with "Ride the Wave", that Garam taught me.

With no time to waste, I shot up another rail, making straight for Benten Boulevard. I cut through there, amidst various partygoers and veered off onto the same walkway where I had jumped onto the train roof. Pushing myself, ignoring the burning in my legs, I charged through the tunnel and darted up the Benten Tower steps. I became aware of a sound behind me all too late, as Ruby barged me out of the way, taking the lead. If she tagged the spot before me, I'd lose. She had a triumphant look on her face as she pulled out a spray can, still moving as fast as she could to the spot on the balcony.

Out of desperation, I grabbed a bag of marbles from a shop display, ignoring the shopkeeper's shouts, and threw it as hard as I could at Ruby.

The bag missed her, instead hitting the floor a couple of feet in front of her and bursting, scattering brightly coloured orbs everywhere.

Ruby wasn't able to stop in time and lost control, skidding over the marbles straight past the tag point, slamming into the wall at the end of the balcony. As she slumped down unconscious, I sprayed "Theatre of Sound" over the balcony, jumped the railing and ground down the pipe, heading back to the Claw hideout. One step closer to being a chosen one, one step closer to finding out exactly what Edge was planning.


End file.
